From the moment head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough arrived at South Carolina State seven years ago, reaching the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs was his primary goal.

With two games left for the Bulldogs (8-2, 6-0) to earn a win to clinch the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title and first automatic playoff berth since 1982, Pough is approaching Saturday’s game at Morgan State (6-4, 4-2) with “the fierce urgency of now.”

“We’d like to get it over with,” Pough said at Monday’s press conference. “The very last thing we need to be is going to Greensboro (North Carolina) the last week of the season (Nov. 22 against North Carolina A&T) trying to eek out a win to try to win the conference. We need to clean this thing up right now and we’re all about this week. I’m not thinking about down the road. We want to win this weekend. We want to keep our (six-game winning) streak going. So I think we’ve got to do all we can to get this thing to come together now.”

A win would match the Bulldogs’ longest winning streak under Pough which took place between the 2004 and 2005 seasons. History favors S.C. State heading to Baltimore, where it has not lost to the Bears since 1974 - Pough’s senior season as a Bulldog offensive lineman.

Morgan State is also coming off a 35-9 loss at Norfolk State in which it committed seven turnovers, two of which were converted into touchdowns.

Nonetheless, Pough has seen enough of the Bears both this season and the previous six meetings, two of which were decided in overtime, to know what challenges to expect.

“The fact that they were beaten this past Saturday, you think a little bit less of them, at least for a minute,” Pough said. “But then after you get to watching them on tape again, you wonder how that happened to them because they’re a big, physical football team who can really give you a lot of different problems. Defensively, they might be the best defense in (FCS). So, we’ve got our work cut out for us and we’ve got to do all we can to give ourselves a chance to have success against them.”

And while MEAC-leading rusher Devan James was held to his second-lowest rushing total of the season (69 yards against the Spartans), Pough acknowledged the Bears’ running game has traditionally given the Bulldogs programs.

“We’ve had our trouble with their running game also,” he said. “They ran the football, especially after they got going last year here (a 28-21 overtime win by S.C. State) in the second half, very effective against us. That’s a concern. We’ve got to go in there and maybe do a good job of making them one dimensional. If they can run and throw the football, then it becomes doubly hard to defend. So, it would be neat if we could kind of shut (James) down some and then at that point, we’d have a better idea of what their needs are and what they’re trying to do.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game at Hughes Stadium is set for 4 p.m.

INJURY UPDATE

S.C. State plans to practice quarterback Malcolm Long (shoulder) this week to check on his progress. His status for Saturday’s game will be determined following a second examination by the team doctor.

Defensive lineman Keyon Brooks is expected back after missing last Thursday’s game against Howard, with a concussion. However, safety Markee Hamlin, who was carted off the field in the nationally-televised game with a neck injury, is listed as doubtful.

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

FCS COACHES POLL

1. James Madison

2. Appalachian State

3. Cal Poly

4. Northern Iowa

5. Montana

6. Richmond

7. Villanova

8. Weber State

9. Southern Illinois

10. Elon

11. Wofford

12. New Hampshire

13. Central Arkansas

14. McNeese State

15. William and Mary

16. Furman

17. South Carolina State

18. Tennessee State

19. Harvard

20. Massachusetts

21. Tennessee-Martin

22. Liberty

23. Maine

24. Colgate

25. North Dakota State

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